Nowadays, analogies are frequently drawn between the world of academia and that of music. One piece I read recently noted that "the granularity of purchase has altered from the album to the track".
This is a somewhat flowery way of stating the truism that listeners are now more inclined to grab individual songs rather than play a whole album through from start to finish.
To those, like myself, who grew up in a pre-digital age, this is something that still goes against the grain. I cling to the quaint notion that the sequencing of a record is important.
Which is why I would question the wisdom of doing what Birds of Chicago have done with this album; to front load it with its two singles, and saving the best songs to the end.
I know this is a relative perspective; you may prefer the catchy songs to the downbeat tunes, but all I can say was that the effect of this on me was, at least on first hearing, to take a slightly dismissive point of view. Having heard the whole record, I can take a more holistic stance but, maybe others won't bother, which would be a pity.
I can hear that the lively pair of opening tunes - Trampoline and Cannonball - are as sharp and direct as the one word titles suggest.
At the same time, this kind of toe-tapping Americana, fuelled by shots of rye follows a well trodden territory path. They show off the strength of the harmony vocals but the real highlights of this album are the songs with more of a soulful, reflective quality.
Birds of Chicago is a collective built around JT Nero (Jeremy Lindsay) from Chicago and a Canadian, Allison Russell who also performs with Po' Girl.
The two also collaborated on JT's Mountains/Forests album from 2011 but this is the first record that credits them as a duo.
Lindsay actually seems slightly ambiguous about his JT Nero alias for this record. On the lyrics sheet and song credits he uses his real name so I'll follow suit and call him this for the rest of the review.
Jeremy Lindsay's voice is officially described as a "broken soul country croon" and that sounds about right to me. There's a world weary quality to it that makes for a nice contrast with the sweeter strains of his female partner.
His songs display a laconic combination of warmth and wisdom with intelligent lyrics that reflect the very different qualities of Lindsay's mentors, Paul Simon and John Prine.
Moonglow Tapeworm is a good example of his keen ear for language - you won't find too many songs about the problem of 'tapeworm' and fewer still that rhyme the word with 'sojourn'.
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The two songs by Russell (Before She Goes and Sans Souci) have a much mellower, carefree aspect. The second, sung in French, has a distinctly Cajun swing to it. The range and effectiveness of Russell's soulful voice is heard to even better effect on the song Come Morning
A New Orleans vibe also runs through Sugar Dumplin'; a track which features Bart De Win on accordion and on which Jesus, Allah and The Buddha all revealed to be lovers of sunbeams.
Old Calcutta is one of the purest gems here, with evocative literary lines about "the consequence of a recklessness of purpose" and Russell's elegant clarinet playing adds to the melancholy feel.
This is the first of the trio of fine closing tracks that rewards those who have stuck around to the end.
Humboldt Crows goes some way to explaining the choice of band name - a song about the birds in Humboldt Park, Chicago where the Kickstarter-funded album was recorded. It's an impressionistic poem set to music with words like "trajectories and stillnesses" placing it beyond the scope mainstream pop language.
The final track is The Wide Sea, a slow, graceful song where the vastness of the ocean stands as a metaphor for the gulf between two lovers: "please come back to yourself, come back to me".
This album will probably be shelved in Alt.Country but elements of soul, jazz, and folk mean that it has richness and depth that defies such tidy categorisation.
Perhaps this is why people like calling such records by the more all-embracing name of Americana.
Whatever you call it, there's some fine stuff to be discovered here and, if you take my advice, you'll start at the end and work backwards.
Birds of Chicago's website
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